Colleges could look a lot different when they reopen. Here are possible changes
As fall approaches, universities are faced with the difficult task of deciding whether to reopen campuses as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
A survey of more than 860 schools by the Chronicle of Higher Education found that about two-thirds of colleges said they plan to hold in-person classes this fall. Another 8% said they plan to use a hybrid model of in-person and online classes.
School officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say universities will need a number of precautions to keep students and staff safe as they return to campus.
What are colleges planning?
Some say it starts with personal responsibility.
“Perhaps most important will be the cultural change on which we have to insist because, in another lesson of the coronavirus spring, nothing makes a more positive difference than personal behavior and responsibility,” Purdue University President Mitch Daniels wrote for the Washington Post.
When students arrive at Purdue, which plans to reopen its campus in August, they will receive a kit with a mask and thermometer along with a pledge which asks them to commit to “a semester of inconvenience” not just for their own safety, but that of teachers and staff, he wrote.
The inconveniences? Wearing masks and doing daily fever checks, the Post reported.
“I will urge students to demonstrate their altruism by complying, but also challenge them to refute cynics who say that today’s young people are too selfish or self-indulgent to help us make this work,” Daniels wrote.
Several universities — including Harvard, Yale and Hollins — said they’re considering “closed circuits,” or small groups of students that largely interact only with each other, The New York Times reported.
“Say up to 10 students live together in a suite or on a hallway and ideally take classes together,” Harvard biology professor Pardis Sabeti told the newspaper. “They don’t have to social distance from each other as long as if one of them gets infected, everyone in the group quarantines. And they can see other students outside the group if they are careful to social distance, especially outdoors, which is safer.”
Schools are also anticipating changes to dining services, moving to a “grab-and-go” system, the Times reported. Some are considering their options for delivery.
“You could also develop a delivery system for your dining hall, where you order on your phone and a runner brings the food to your dorm,” Carlos Aramayo, president of the Boston chapter of the UNITE HERE union that represents 14,000 college dining hall staff members, told the Times. “That would be good for jobs. I think that’s in development. But there are some real logistical challenges around doing some of this stuff to scale.”
Other schools are considering implementing coronavirus testing, contact tracing, remote study options, shorter semesters and flexible start dates, among other changes, Business Insider reported.
What does the CDC recommend?
The federal agency released considerations for colleges in May, recommending face coverings and social distancing for students and staff.
The CDC also identified full-sized in-person classes and full-capacity residence halls as being high risk for transmission, with virtual-only learning and closed residence halls categorized as low risk.
For colleges that do reopen, the CDC recommends providing alternative learning options, such as virtual classes, for students who fall in high risk categories in an effort to limit their exposure to other people.
Universities should also consider enacting flexible excused absence and time-off policies, to encourages students and staff to stay home when they’re feeling ill, the CDC said.
The agency also recommends that institutions develop a plan for how to isolate people who contract coronavirus.
Institutions should also designate an administrator to serve as a COVID-19 point of contact to field and respond to concerns related to the virus, the CDC said.
You can read the CDC’s complete guidelines here.